


Back to the Beach

by Pixelle



Category: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, because of course, girlfriends n' stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 14:38:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16642106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelle/pseuds/Pixelle
Summary: A week after the Memory Stone incident, the girls decide to try their beach trip again. Before they can fully enjoy themselves, however, Sunset and Twilight have some relationship issues lingering from said incident to patch up.An epilogue to Forgotten Friendship.





	1. Chapter 1

Sunset Shimmer was no stranger to do-overs.

But, for obvious reasons, the concept held special meaning for her.

Today’s "do-over" was a brand new trip to Canterlot Beach. She’d been here a week ago, along with the rest of her best friends, and even her girlfriend. Except, on that day—and the few afterward—they hadn’t been her friends, or girlfriend. They’d been magically coerced into only remembering the times Sunset Shimmer had been the worst person anyone knew—the times that Sunset, even now, desperately worked to put behind herself.

Fortunately, it was over now. The magic was dispersed. Everyone’s memories were back where they belonged. But Sunset still couldn’t help but feel a churning in her heart as she walked down the boardwalk steps and onto beach sand, seeing familiar rainbow-colored silhouettes of her friends a short distance away.

She looked at her phone, scrolling through her texts—or rather, lack thereof. It didn’t help that, since her confrontation with the source of that magic, she hadn’t heard a peep from Twilight Sparkle. She’d wanted to talk about what happened, to clear the air, but only when Twilight was ready.

But Twilight never brought it up. In fact, she'd stayed silent on the phone for the rest of the week, kept in-school interactions to small talk amidst the other girls, and walked home by herself as soon as school let out each day, even when Sunset offered her rides.

In all honesty, it'd driven Sunset crazy, and it took a lot for her to not get angry about it. Still, she knew they’d see each other at the beach today, and have as much time to talk as they wanted, so she forced herself to wait. Talking would happen when it was ready to happen.

But also, it would happen today.

Sunset put her phone back in her bag, straightened her bathing suit, and took tentative steps towards the other girls, bracing herself for... really, _any_ possible thing that could go wrong. With magic in the mix, anything was possible, for good or ill. As she got closer to the crowd, she instinctively shut her eyes.

The next thing she felt was a soft body squishing into her.

" _Sunset!_ "

The new voice took Sunset a few moments to recognize because it was still new to her life—but no less welcome for it. She opened her eyes to see a freckled green face smiling up at her. Sunset smiled back. "Hi, Wallflower. I'm so glad you could make it. Are you having a good time?"

Wallflower Blush stepped back, revealing a short, green-complexioned girl in a brown one-piece swimsuit, who looked at herself and her surroundings self-consciously. It was understandable—she'd been the wielder of the magic that had made the immediate past week so hard to deal with, and she was still on her guard emotionally.

Wallflower, of course, had nothing to fear from Sunset or her friends anymore, but Sunset remembered being the exact same way on her road to redemption. Time would be all Wallflower needed.

Finally, Wallflower said, "I'll be honest: I wasn't sure if I would. If you hadn't prodded me so much, I'm sure I would have found some sort of excuse to skip out on coming here. Gatherings and I have always had a... rocky relationship."

Sunset nodded. "I understand."

Wallflower nodded back, and sighed. "Yeah. You do that a lot. And you haven't given me any reason not to trust your advice yet, so here I am." Her expression slowly lifted, with widening eyes and a wondrous stare. "And you know what? I'm glad I came. The beach is pretty fun! No one's looking at me like I don't belong here. And even better, your friends have actually been... friendly."

She blushed, and looked down to the sand, kicking up small tufts with her sandals. "Like, I’m not used to being told I look cute, or have fashion sense, or being invited to play games on the sand or in the water... I-I'm not used to being complimented or invited _anywhere,_ really." She looked back up at Sunset. "So, yeah. I could get used to this. You know. Provided I don't mess it up."

Sunset chuckled, and placed a hand on Wallflower's shoulder. "You totally won't mess it up. Because you were _always_ invitee material. I’m just sad that none of us ever saw it until now."

Wallflower nodded. "And I'm sad that I saw it the least out of all of us. But I want to get better at being noticed, and being social. Now that I know there’s a chance." Her smile returned. "A second chance."

"Looks like you're already well on your way," Sunset said. "That's why you won't mess this up. Because it's something you want."

"Right." Wallflower's right hand curled into a tiny, spirited fist. "And I'll do whatever it takes to keep things going the way they are."

"That's the perfect mindset." Sunset winked. "So, running for Fall Formal Princess when?"

Wallflower winked back. "The year you're not."

Sunset blushed and looked away. "Okay, yeah, walked into that one." 

Wallflower giggled. "Kidding, of course. Anyway, I'm going to go join Pinkie Pie and Rarity in building a sand castle. Rarity got real medieval castle blueprints that we're going to try to reproduce to the best of our ability, totally in sand! Staircases, towers, _dungeons_ , the works! It's gonna be epic!"

"Wow." Sunset scratched her head. "That sounds ambitious. And also completely Rarity and Pinkie. Try not to get too swept up in their, uh, zeal?"

Wallflower nodded. "I'm not sure how well this's going to turn out, but I'm all for resurrecting Olde Canterlot estate architecture. Their gardens and fountains were incredible. Pinkie and Rarity may have to watch out for _me,_ 'cause I'm way psyched for this!" She beamed. "You should set up your stuff and come join us!"

Sunset looked towards the others. They certainly seemed to be having fun, in their own special ways, as usual. Rainbow and Fluttershy were out in the water, Rarity and Pinkie were already poring over blueprints, and Trixie was haggling Spike and Applejack over the price of the homemade juice boxes the latter had brought to sell. However, she noticed after a quick scan that everyone was present and accounted for... save for the  specific shade of lavender she was expressly looking for.

"Maybe in a little bit," Sunset said. "But, um, do you know if Twilight's shown up yet?"

Wallflower's eyebrows scrunched. "Now that you mention it... that's weird. From what Rarity told me, she was actually the first one of our group to show up, with Spike and her little robot and everything. But she excused herself to go to the changing stalls a while ago. She hasn't come back since."

Sunset's eyebrows scrunched in kind. "How long was 'a while ago'?"

"Hmmm. I don't know, twenty minutes?"

About the time Sunset pulled her bike up to the boardwalk, she calculated. Pushing thoughts of the worst out of her mind, Sunset restored her smile. "You go on ahead with the others. Have all the fun. I'll be there soon."

"Okay." Wallflower waved as she walked off. "Don't take too long!"

_I hope I don't have to._

Sunset set up her towel and umbrella, then walked back towards the boardwalk and its stalls.


	2. Chapter 2

Sunset arrived at the boardwalk long before she was ready to. She briefly considered going home, sleeping until next Wednesday, then coming back. Maybe by then she'd have gathered sufficient nerve.

Right now, though, the apprehension and butterflies were back, in full force. She leaned against the side of a stall, crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and exhaled through pursed lips.

_You've got this, Sunset. Fears are never dispelled, problems are never solved, unless one faces them. And Twilight's probably just as scared herself, unfortunately._

Sunset took a deep breath, and walked among the stalls. "Twilight?" she did her best to call out, loud enough to be heard, but not so loud as to get strange looks from passersby, or worse, the stall-users themselves. "Are you around here? Twilight—"

Several chirping, robotic trills sounded in the direction of the stall at the very end. Sunset picked up the pace—she'd heard those sounds before. "Selfie Sensor? Is that you?"

A small flying drone with a camera lens attached popped out from the upper area of the final stall door, becoming more recognizable as Sunset now ran towards it. As she reached the stall, she heard someone hiss, "Get down!", in a voice Sunset never, _ever_ would have mistook for anyone but one person. She then saw two unmistakably lavender hands pull the drone back into the stall, and close the stall door's upper blinds.

" _Twilight!_ " Without thinking about decorum, or possible consequences were she somehow wrong, Sunset turned the knob on the stall door and looked inside, to see Twilight sitting on the stall bench, legs bunched up and arms around her knees.

Twilight looked up at Sunset, then back down at her Selfie Sensor. "Well, _you're_ a traitor," she told it, with a snort and a roll of her eyes.

The drone chirped in contrition, flying to the end of the bench and shutting down. Twilight sighed, petting it. "Though I guess it is my fault." She looked up at Sunset. "I programmed Selfie to be extra-receptive to your voice in the wake of... you know." She looked away.

Sunset's expression, and voice, went somber. "Can I come in?"

Twilight nodded. Sunset walked inside, closed the door and its blinds, and held out her hand. Twilight reached out, took it, and stood up. "J-Just so you know, I-I'm not hiding from you," Twilight said. "I, uh, always have to psyche myself out before going out on the beach proper." She blew aside a strand of hair. "Especially given how frumpy I always look."

Sunset tilted her head. "What are you talking about? You look great as ever, and you're never awful at dressing yourself up. You literally have your personal grooming ritual down to a science." She smiled with one corner of her mouth. "You showed me the formulas." She saw Twilight titter in spite of herself, and continued, "Also, that bathing suit you’re wearing was pretty trendy the last time I saw it, and it still is now. I'm just sad I didn't get to compliment it last time."

"Rarity did help me pick this out. But yeah," Twilight said. "Thanks."

A long silence passed between them before Sunset finally sighed. "Twilight," she said, taking a step closer. " _Wallflower_ came to the beach today, and is having the time of her life with everyone else. Meanwhile, you're hiding. Can we talk about what's really going on?"

Twilight stayed silent.

Pushing down the butterflies again, Sunset continued, "I've wanted to all week. And I know you're scared to tackle problems you can't instantly solve with a scientific formula, but I don't even have _that_ on my side. I just... I just want to know if we're good.  A-Are we?" she said, willing her voice not to crack. "Are we good?"

Twilight turned around, her back to Sunset. After a deep breath, she replied, "I've been wanting to ask you the same question. But I had no idea how. Because... yeah. It's true. I've been too scared."

Sunset nodded, placing her hands on Twilight's shoulders, and feeling Twilight relax the slightest bit.

"I-I still remember the things I said to you," Twilight said. "The things I did. The things we all said and did, which I felt awful about all week, and still feel awful about right now."

"I know. We've both been too afraid to talk about it," Sunset said, caressing Twilight's shoulders and arms as gently as possible. "But we're here together now, and we've both just confessed that we want to. So, let's."

Twilight nodded, and sniffled. "Okay."

And then, again, silence. Silence, with Twilight's body moving up and down, unevenly. Sunset could always tell when Twilight was trying to talk about a subject, but got stuck on fishing for the "perfect" words. It'd be frustrating if it weren't so adorable. Or adorable if it weren't so frustrating.

Sunset wrapped her arms around Twilight's waist, pressing against her with a warm embrace in an effort to clear her girlfriend's mind. "Okay. I'll lead," she said, her voice soft and inviting. "Let’s make this easy. We know how we feel about each other, right? At least, I hope we do."

Twilight nodded. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. To my life." Sunset felt Twilight sniffle again. "A-And I almost threw you away."

"Whoa, hey, no," Sunset said, slowly rocking Twilight back and forth. " _You_ didn't throw anything away at all! It took literal magic from another world to even get you to _consider_ leaving me. Magic that got the better of both of us. And that was only because, as far as that magic was concerned, I was the _worst_ thing that ever happened to you. If you think I blame you for what happened, even one bit—"

Twilight turned around again, and Sunset could now plainly see the tears threatening to escape Twilight's eyes.

"But I blame _myself_ for what happened!" Twilight pleaded. "I'd like to think that I'd be a good enough girlfriend to..." Twilight clawed her hands. "I don't know! Fight it somehow! I'd like to think that our feelings for each other would be enough to get us past anything! But you tried and tried and... and I just responded with meanness and hate instead." She buried her head in Sunset's shoulder. "Stupid magic. It's always magic. I hate it so much sometimes."

Sunset shook her head, pushed Twilight to arm's length in front of her, and wiped Twilight's tears away with her thumbs. "That's not how I remember what happened. What I remember is, when Wallflower erased my memories, and the magic finally won? You turned the tables with faith. And love. I'm here right now, because that's exactly what you did. And you were able to do it when it counted most." She caressed Twilight's cheek with one hand. "You didn’t do anything wrong at all, Twilight. You did everything completely right."

"I-I did?" Twilight sniffled, and rubbed her eyes. "So I... wasn't a bad girlfriend?"

Sunset looked deep into Twilight's eyes, and gave Twilight the Warm Smile, the smile she always knew was guaranteed to let Twilight know everything was okay. "Not in the slightest. And, now that we’re together again, I'm nowhere near worried that what happened last week will happen again, because how’s this for logic: if otherworldly magic that even your Level 99 scientific mind had trouble with couldn't tear us apart in the end... what can?"

Sunset could see the reasoning churn in Twilight's mind, before her lips curled up into the tiniest smile. "I’m still going to use my Level 99 science to prevent this from happening again. Because I'm tired of magic messing with us like this."

Sunset giggled. "Believe me, I’d love nothing better than for you to crack the code to keeping magic in check myself. But the question now is: do you feel better enough to come out and play with the rest of us?"

"I’m, uh, halfway there? I... wasn’t completely lying before," Twilight said, with a sigh. "I _always_ get bathing suit jitters. Seriously, you should have seen me last week."

Sunset blinked in confusion, then grinned, holding back loud laughter. "Twilight Sparkle," she said, walking back behind Twilight, kissing her neck, and running her hands down her arms. "What you're saying makes zero sense. You are the _hottest mama on this beach._ "

Twilight's entire face changed color almost completely. "Th-Thanks. That’s a lie, though. Especially coming from someone in your volcano-level bikini."

Sunset felt her face turn the same shade Twilight's had. "Oh, _pfft,_ " she said, waving dismissively while desperately trying to stay calm. "Please. These cloth strips?"

Twilight giggled. "Don't even. Rarity and I saw those 'cloth strips' while shopping downtown last week, and _we_ both went nuts for them. The only reason we didn't buy them was because they weren't the right color for either of us. That said, I was thinking of buying them for you as an anniversary present because I knew how hot _you specifically_ would look in them, but then you beat us to it, and now I have to start all over, but at least my hypothesis was correct so that makes me feel better—"

Twilight stopped when Sunset put her index finger to Twilight's lips. Sunset slumped with a sheepish sigh, draping herself over Twilight's body. "Okay fine, you got me. You’re the hottest mama on this beach _to me._ And since Rarity and Trixie try their hardest to turn heads whenever they're out here, that's saying a whole lot."

Twilight turned around to face Sunset, now wearing the happiest face Sunset had seen all day. "Aaaaawwwwwww," Twilight said, her voice melting as much as her expression, and wrapping Sunset in a huge hug. "That's really sweet. Thanks."

"Well, yeah. 'Course, I might be biased—you know, the whole ‘girlfriend’ thing. But, _as_ your girlfriend," Sunset said, running her hands down Twilight's sides, "I hereby give you permission to allow the rest of the beach to see what I see in you." Sunset let her fingers inch lower, and caress Twilight's butt teasingly, slipping her right index finger just barely inside the fabric of her suit bottoms. "For now, anyway," she said, nibbling Twilight's ear with her lips. "What I see in you _later_ is just for me."

Pressed together as they were, Sunset felt Twilight's every hitch, heard her suck in her breath and bite her lip, felt her skin heat up, saw her glasses fog, and watched her tense and immobilize with anticipation. "I really missed you," Twilight finally breathed.

"I know," Sunset whispered in Twilight's ear as she continued to move her fingers back and forth, making Twilight shudder. "So did I."

"Can... can we just go home now?" Twilight asked through shaking breaths.

"I don't know," Sunset said. "I think the others would be pretty sad. Didn't you all specifically plan this for me as a 'welcome back' beach party? And Wallflower's here, too. She's barely gotten to know either of us, but I know she wants to."

"I... I know, b-but..." Twilight stared at Sunset with pleading eyes, visibly stuck between choices.

"How about this," Sunset said. "Beach now." She let her leg slip in between Twilight's, brushing lightly and intently. "Dinner after... and then, pony rides at my place."

Twilight slowly sank into, and matched, Sunset's movements. "Promise?" she pleaded, with fluttering eyes. "Promise I get to ride my pony?"

"Promise," Sunset said, stepping back, and watching Twilight's grin slacken as she took deep breaths. "Ready to go now?"

"Just... just a minute," Twilight said, with a silly giggle. "Gotta... gotta recover."

"Oh, for—okay, that's it." Twilight didn't _get_ a minute to recover, instead being forced to squeal when Sunset scooped her up in her arms. The two smiled into each other's eyes, as Sunset carried Twilight proudly out of the stall, and across the boardwalk, not caring who stared at them—and glad for each moment that Twilight stared at her with that goofy, dorky, _sexy_ grin.

It would always be like this. They'd make sure of it. Together.

"Just for the record," Twilight said, "none of this is helping me cool down."


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't long before Sunset made it back to the others on the beach sand, with Twilight still in her arms.

"Twilight!" Wallflower was the first to run up to them, while also alerting the rest. "Sunset found you! Thank goodness. What happened? Why were you gone so long?"

Sunset and Twilight looked at each other with knowing grins. "Looks like she just got surprised by how hot the sand was," Sunset said. "Delicate nerd feet, and all."

"Y-Yeah," Twilight said with a sheepish giggle. "Dumb sun-scorched sand gets me every time."

Rainbow Dash and Rarity looked at the two with narrowed eyes, then at each other, before shifting back to their casual demeanor. "Yeah, that’ll do it," Rainbow said, meeting Sunset's eyes. "You gotta be more _careful_ , Twi."

Sunset met Rainbow's eyes back, with a triumphant smile. "She definitely will," she said, carrying Twilight onto her umbrella and towel.

"Oh! Here, dear, put these on," Rarity said, running up with sandals. "I always pack clean spares."

"Wait, you do?" Applejack asked.

"Well, of course! What if I need to better blend into a crowd, or to impress a lifeguard?" Rarity gestured around the beach. "You can tell peoples' color senses simply by looking into their eyes, you know. There's no excuse to not be prepared."

"Huh." Applejack scratched her head. "Didn't know that. By the way, Twi, uh, Spike's watching my cider booth." Applejack thumbed towards a small wooden stand a short distance away, which had a "Be Right Back" sign on it, and a small purple dog snapping at any passersby. "He's actually pretty good at deterring would-be thieves."

"Oh, yeah," Twilight said, "he's tougher than he looks. Especially if you promise him a cut of the proceedings."

"No _wonder_ he's been extra snippy," Applejack muttered, sauntering back over to the booth. "Guess I'd better go fix that. Anyway, welcome back, Sunset. For real this time." She winked at Sunset, then sauntered back towards her booth.

Sunset waved, rolled her eyes, then ran back to the stalls as Twilight made herself comfortable on the towel. A few minutes later, Sunset came back with Selfie and Twilight's bag, set them down, and sat on the towel next to Twilight. "Here’s your stuff. Want me to join you?"

Twilight shook her head. "Thanks, for everything—but Sunset, this is _your day._ I wouldn’t dream of getting in the way of it, especially since you're all mine later. I’ll join everyone in just a bit, but I revised my selfie drone to give it faster engines and selfie-detection reaction time." She took out a screwdriver from her bag. "Need to make sure it won’t break on the field."

Sunset raised her eyebrows. "That much enhancement in so little time since your last field test? So _that’s_ what you’ve been working on all week."

Twilight blushed. "Yeah, well. You know how I deal with stress."

"I do." Sunset grinned. "It’s almost a shame we’ll never break up. Pretty sure you’d single-handedly cause world peace."

Twilight snort-laughed, loud and long. "All right, now that I've embarrassed myself in front of you, get out of here and go have fun already."

"Okay, okay. I've got a sand-castle estate to check on, anyway." Sunset rose her knees, getting ready to stand. "See you soon."

"Mm-hmm—oh, Sunset, wait!"

Sunset turned around. "What is it?"

Twilight tugged on Sunset's arm, pulling her into a warm hug. "Just so it's clear: I love you. I always will. And I’m so happy you get to be a part of my life. This time, and every time after."

The two pulled back, looked at each other, and finally shared their first kiss of the day. "So am I, Twilight," Sunset said when they parted. "So am I."

Sunset left the shade of Twilight's umbrella, running towards her friends, and the waves. The day looked brighter already.


End file.
